Before gaining access to the Shellwood area of Hollow Knight: Silksong, players will first need to get through Greymoor, one of the more confusing maps. It’s also quite an annoying area because the boss that you need to deal with before getting out through the west side, named Moorwing, can take a few tries before going down.
We actually have a very detailed and thorough guide on how to beat Moorwing in Silksong, filled with images, movesets, and the best strategies, but this guide will cover how to cheese Moorwing for the players out there who won’t feel bad for beating a boss in a super unintended way. Let’s get into it.
If you’re reading this guide, then you more than likely already know the location of Moorwing. So, the rest bench at the Halfway Home in Greymoor will be your closest point to get back to the boss.
However, before you make your way back to try out this cheese method, you will need to sit and switch to the Reaper Crest (we have a guide here on how to get it).
Hornet gets a couple of different Crests in the story, and each one will change her basic attack and her downward attack. The 
Reaper Crest attacks with heavy arcing slashes, and you get extra Silk from defeating enemies. The downward arc attack Hornet can do with this Crest is one of the only ways to damage Moorwing from a special spot where the battle occurs.
Now, once you’ve gotten to the area where the fight is, you will need to approach Moorwing to get him moving. Once he starts attacking, run to the right, and ride the currents up towards where you dropped in from.
Face the wall on the left, and then Moorwing will fly right underneath you, allowing you to use that downward arc swing to deal damage. It’ll take a couple of hits to get it down, but you should be completely safe from harm by standing in that spot.
Make sure to check out our full interactive map for Silksong right here.
Once you defeat Moorwing, you can keep going west to reach the Haunted Bellhart, where the Threadspun Town quest takes place. Keep going to the left to finally reach Shellwood. Almost to Act 2!
Word on the street is that you can actually skip the Moorwing fight entirely in Silksong. We’ve heard of two methods so far that seem to work. The first one involves following the red path on the map above and using the Simple Key to open a locked gate.
By using this method, you’re basically coming into the boss fight area from the left instead of the right.
And for the second way to skip the fight, you can apparently find the five lost Fleas for Fleamaster Mooshka in The Marrow, and then the Caravan will be in the spot where Moorwing would normally show up. However, there’s a chance that once the Flea Caravan moves again, the boss could show up. So take these with a grain of salt!
September 4, 2025
Team Cherry
Team Cherry
Unity
Hollow Knight
